


Entanglements

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Multi, POV Outsider, Rey Skywalker, Speculation, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-15 14:43:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5789311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Parenting is hard, especially when your daughter's dating two guys at the same time. Or, Luke tries to figure out how to be a dad, and spends too much time spying on the kids.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Entanglements

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers and speculation. This was meant to be for a fest prompt (This conversation between Luke and Leia: "When you were planning on telling me that my daughter has two boyfriends?") but ended up, er, less cracky and more about Luke and Rey than I'd meant? But I sort of like it, so.

On Ahch-To, Rey talked about her friend Finn all the time. Luke almost felt as though he knew the man, she talked about him so much. It got sort of old, after a while, honestly, but Luke was nevertheless grateful to him for all that he had done for Rey.

When they joined the Resistance, it wasn’t hard to figure out that the young man who came running to sweep up Rey in a huge hug must be Finn. And the man behind them... Well. There was only person he could be. Kes and Shara’s boy, Poe. Rey had mentioned him, mostly in reference to his efforts trying to find Luke for the Resistance and his part in Finn’s escape from the First Order. He had his father’s eyes and his mother’s hair, and judging by his presence here, the courage and spirit of both of them. He’d grown up well.

Over the passing weeks and then months, the three of them, Rey, Finn, and Poe, became practically inseparable, and Luke was pleased to see it. He was glad that Rey had friends, two men who cared about her and who would do anything for her. There was no making up for the childhood Luke had doomed her to, no matter how pure his intentions had been, so he was glad at least now that she had found some happiness.

He smiled whenever he saw them, both for Rey and because they reminded him of another inseparable trio, from many years ago. They were young and full of hope in spite of their circumstances, eager to bring change to the galaxy. Luke hoped they would never lose that. He hoped that their futures would shine as brightly as their hearts.

He saw Rey kiss Finn once, quickly and without thought, like it was something she did often. He supposed he wasn’t entirely surprised – and he was more than a little bit pleased, to be honest. Finn was a good man. He doubted any father could wish for better for his daughter.

What did surprise him was the moment he saw Poe climb down from his X-wing into the waiting company of Rey and Finn, pressing kisses to both their cheeks before the three of them walked off arm in arm.

“Huh,” he said to himself, but decided that it might not have meant anything. Poe was a friendly guy, after all. Maybe he kissed a lot of people like that. Not that Luke had ever seen him do it, but he could. He might.

Luke also tried to tell himself it wasn’t any of his business. Rey might have been his daughter but she was a grown woman who could kiss whomever she liked. Her romantic entanglements were her own to sort out.

He tried to tell himself that, anyway, but it was easier to say than to do. Luke had wasted so many years being apart from Rey and it was… difficult to let go, to maintain a sense of distance, now that she was here. He didn’t really know how to be a father but the fear and the protectiveness came naturally.

That was perhaps all that came naturally. Luke had let Rey convince him to train her in the Force, but he was having a harder time convincing himself that he had the right to be a part of her life in any other respect. He was the father who had abandoned her and he wasn’t sure he could ever be anything else, however much he wanted to be.

He couldn’t help but wonder about her, though, and watch her sometimes. He knew it was likely an invasion of her privacy but it wasn’t as though he could stop in the middle of a lesson and say, “Rey, are you dating Finn _and_ Poe? At the same time?”

Definitely not.

So he looked for her sometimes in the mess hall, or out on the tarmac. He watched her in meetings and out of the corner of his eye when they passed in the hall. A part of Luke knew that this was technically spying and he should be ashamed of himself. He was a little bit ashamed, to be honest, but not enough to stop.

Rey was _very_ friendly with Finn and Poe. A hug here, a peck on the lips there, a lot of hand-holding. Luke knew friendliness was sometimes just that – affection between friends. He understood that closeness and intimacy often had nothing to do with romance.

But Luke also knew what love looked like. All forms of love. Rey loved those boys, and they loved her, and it wasn’t about friendship. Or, it was, but it was about more than that. When she looked at Finn, or when she clutched Poe’s hand, her face and her body were saying more than _I love you because you’re my friend_. She was saying, _I love you because you make me whole, you make me who I’m supposed to be, life without you isn’t life at all._

Love between friends was a powerful force, and Luke perhaps knew that better than most. But Rey loved Finn and Poe like Leia loved Han, and Luke could see that without needing to ask.

He ended up asking anyway, though. Just not Rey.

Luke sat down with Leia in her quarters over a cup of caf and said, “You could have told me my daughter has two boyfriends, you know.”

“Luke, if you couldn’t see that for yourself I wasn’t going to be the one to break it to you,” Leia said with a wry quirk of her lips.

“Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve been around people,” Luke joked. Maybe not the best joke considering the circumstances, but Leia didn’t flinch.

“Are you worried about it?”

He hadn’t been, but Leia’s question gave him pause. “Do you think I should be?”

“No,” Leia said right away. “I’ve known Poe for some time now. He’s… genuine. There aren’t a lot of people I’d say that about. And Finn, he’s a good kid. Brave, loyal. They’ll look out for her.” She smiled a little. “And they’ll let her look out for them.”

“Good, that’s good.” Luke had always respected Leia’s opinion and he was glad that she seemed to see the situation the same as he did. He wanted the best for Rey, and he knew Leia did, too.

“You know,” Leia said, touching the back of Luke’s hand. “You could just ask Rey about all of this. She’s a bit closer to the situation than I am.”

Luke blanched. “I can’t talk to her about this. I don’t know how.”

“A dilemma faced by all parents,” Leia teased, but gently.

“I haven’t been a father to her. I’m not sure I have the right to start now.”

Sadness bloomed in Leia’s brown eyes, mixed with a fleeting hint of disapproval. “Now isn’t the time to debate what you did, to discuss the value of intentions as opposed to outcomes. What’s been done is already in the past, but she’s here now. You owe it to her to try. You owe it to yourself.”

“And if she doesn’t want that?”

“Then that’s her decision to make. Don’t make it for her.”

“I suppose I’ve done enough of that already,” Luke said, chagrined and bitter all at once. Rey had been a little girl, her life in danger, and Luke hadn’t known what else to do, but she had trusted him and he had… left her. Walled up her memories and her connection to the Force and left her.

Leia had sat back, folding her arms over her chest. She looked very much the part of General Organa and Luke remembered the way he’d always been a little intimidated by her, by the way she could stand so small amidst a roomful of men and still control the scene completely. “Brooding is not a good look on you. Stop the self-recrimination and just move on, will you? She’s alive, and she’s safe. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Luke blinked at her.

“Honestly, Luke, she would love you, if you let her,” Leia continued, more kindly. “You’ve been spending so much time with her; can’t you see it? She’s starved for love. All she wants is a family. Why do you think she’s latched on so tightly to Finn and Poe? She’s ready for you to be part of that, too.”

“But what if I…” Luke trailed off, unable to say the words to Leia of all people, the sister he had failed. He had failed her son, and there was nothing he feared more than the idea that he might fail his daughter even more than he already had.

“Haven’t you been running long enough? You can’t spend the rest of your life hiding from the world, from your mistakes. You can’t let fear rule you.”

“You were always braver than me,” Luke said, because it was true.

Leia took his hand. “You’re plenty brave enough.”

-

Rey moved the last piece of the kids’ puzzle into place, her concentration never breaking as she gently set it into position with the power of the Force. She breathed out when she was done, and looked towards Luke.

“Well done, Rey,” Luke said, and was rewarded by her bright smile. He thought she would be a better Jedi than he ever was, and the thought made a fierce swell of pride rise within him. “That’s all for today, I think. Spend some time with the remotes on your own, if you can.”

“Sure,” she said, and Luke knew she would do it.

She was leaving, and Luke thought if he didn’t say anything now it would only give him the excuse to keep delaying, on and on and on. “Rey, do you want to… have dinner with me? Maybe? We could… talk.”

Rey immediately seemed guarded, wary, but she smiled shyly. “I… I think I’d like that. Sure.”

“Tonight?” Luke said, and hoped he didn’t seem too eager.

“Oh, well, I promised Finn and Poe…”

Finn and Poe. Of course. Luke wasn’t disappointed. He couldn’t be, not for that.

Okay, he was maybe a little disappointed. “Tomorrow, then.”

Rey nodded. “Okay. Tomorrow.”

On a daring whim, Luke said, “And maybe, maybe some time, if you want to, you could bring them, too?” He was pushing it, he knew he was; he didn’t even know if this would go well. He should wait to see how things played out with Rey herself before he started bringing boyfriends into the mix. But then, he had always been impatient.

Rey’s smile turned a lot less shy, as it always did where Finn and Poe were concerned. “I’d really like that.”

“Good,” Luke said. “Great. Thank you.” He wondered if he was going to turn out to be the over-involved father who never knew when to step back. He hoped not.

He looked at Rey as she stood there, waiting for his lead. Luke wanted to give some sort of indication that he understood what was going on between her, Finn, and Poe, that he approved, that he thought they were good for her, but he didn’t know how to say it without coming across as patronizing, or without crossing a boundary he didn’t have the right to cross. A good father might be able to offer an opinion Rey could respect, and choose to accept or reject as she saw fit, but Luke hadn’t been a good father. He hadn’t been a father at all. He wanted to change that, but it was too soon.

Instead he said what was in his heart. “I’m glad you’re happy,” he said, and hoped she would understand what he meant.

Rey was watching him carefully, still with that wariness in her stance. Then she said, “Thanks,” and hesitated. After a moment she quickly moved closer and hugged Luke, holding him tightly with her deceptively slender arms. She pulled back almost as soon as she’d begun, her cheeks a little red, and then ducked out. “See you,” she said.

Luke took a moment to compose himself, overcome with the strangest sensation, almost like he wanted to cry. He controlled it, and then let himself feel the full force of his joy. He wasn’t certain he deserved any of this, but he didn’t think that mattered.

Leia had been right, it seemed, but then, she always was.

_**End** _   



End file.
